Shaping the Future: How LSU’s Jyotsna Sharma is Transforming Engineering and STEM

Jyotsna Sharma, research specialist and field engineer, has built a career in petroleum engineering and higher education. As a successful woman in a male-dominated field, she is currently an associate professor in the LSU College of Engineering, using her industry experience to shape the next generation of engineers, as well as inspiring women in STEM fields. 

Sharma grew up in India and knew from an early age she wanted to be an engineer. Her father was an engineer and he always encouraged her to think, and solve problems, like an engineer. As she grew up, Sharma attended the top educational institute in India, the Indian Institute of Technology.

“Growing up in India, getting admission to a good university was highly competitive,” Sharma said. “Acing the entrance exam for the Indian Institute of Technology was a career defining moment, as I was the top rank and the only girl to qualify from my state.”

Sharma moved from India to Canada in 2006 to work as a field engineer at Schlumberger immediately after completing her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering. It was at Schlumberger that Sharma decided she wanted to pursue a PhD.

“I thought petroleum engineering was fascinating but I didn't understand how everything worked as an electrical engineer,” Sharma said. “I wanted to continue in the oil and gas industry and decided to get a PhD to gain a better understanding of how things worked.”

Sharma finished her PhD in three years without getting a master’s degree and doing twice the amount of classes since she did not have a petroleum engineering bachelor’s degree. 

After working at Schlumberger and getting her PhD in petroleum engineering, Sharma moved to the United States in 2013 to work as a research engineer at Chevron in Houston, Texas.

At Chevron, Sharma learned quickly that petroleum engineering is an applied engineering field. The hands-on experience she received there gave her the confidence to educate aspiring engineers. 

“I learned the most from being close to the well and understanding the practical aspects of the field while working at Chevron,” Sharma said. “Without field experience, I do not think I would have become a good educator in petroleum engineering.”

Sharma has been teaching at LSU for 6 years. She incorporates her personal field experiences and practical aspects of the engineering field into her teaching, which may not always go by the book. 

“As an engineer, we need to have critical thinking to solve real life problems that may not be seen in homework or textbooks,” Sharma said. “If the student can learn to be a critical thinker, that is the biggest success and is better than getting an A in the course.”

Most recently, Sharma began a new role as a program director at the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. Sharma says it was a highly competitive hiring process and she feels very accomplished to have been selected for this role. 

In addition, she also leads a team of researchers working to prevent nuclear power leaks. The group, which includes LSU Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Associate Professor Manas Gartia, LSU Geology & Geophysics Associate Professor Jianwei Wang, Southern University Professors Ali Fazely and Terrance Reece, and LSU Engineering and Southern University students to develop and demonstrate a novel, multifunctional distributed fiber-optic sensor (DFOS) that will immediately detect a radiation leak. 

The entire fiber-optic cable acts as a sensor, providing spatially and temporally continuous monitoring along the fiber with no additional electronics along the optical path. A 100-ft. fiber, for instance, will have a 100-ft. sensor. If there is a leak, especially a radiation leak, Sharma’s team wants to quickly find the leak using a DFOS, which allows real-time measurement along the fiber.

Being a successful woman in STEM and education, Sharma says in every field she has pursued and every place she has worked, women have been a minority, but that has not discouraged her. 

“I just do my work to the best of my ability without paying much attention to whether I am a minority or a majority,” Sharma said. “I let my work speak for itself.” 

Looking ahead, Sharma wants to make an impact at the Department of Energy, overseeing multimillion dollar research programs in innovative energy solutions. She hopes to continue to inspire and educate future engineers, as well as leaving a lasting legacy for female students, as she sees slow changes in the industry. 

“Be excellent at what you do, everything else will fall into place and have the courage to stand up for what you believe in,” Sharma said. “Be confident in your abilities and ignore the naysayers as background noise.”

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